Experimental investigation of shear resistance of cold-formed steel framed sheathed walls

Abstract Through an experimental investigation of the lateral resistance of seven full-scale cold-formed steel (CFS) framed sheathed walls under monotonic loading and reversed-cyclic loading, the mechanical properties, failure modes, and seismic performance of the walls are elucidated. The influence of loading mode, vertical load and sheathing material on the shear bearing capacity and hysteresis performance dissipation of the walls are analyzed. The results show that the shear bearing capacity of the single-sided 12-mm-thick gypsum panel CFS wall is about 34%—37% that of the single-sided 9-mm-thick oriented strand board panel CFS wall, and the shear bearing capacity of the double panel CFS wall is nearly equal to the sum of the two kinds of single-sided panel CFS wall. The mode of loading has a significant influence. The shear resistance of the CFS wall under monotonic loading is 5%–20% higher than that of the CFS wall under the reversed-cyclic load. The application of the vertical load improves the stiffness and the shear bearing capacity of the CFS wall, but the ductility coefficient is slightly decreased.